Future and Past
by Burning Underground
Summary: Sonic and Tails encounter a strange hedgehog who looks a lot like Sonic's old rival, Shadow, but he doesn't know what anything is. Some futuristic people are after Knuckles too! He doesn't even know why. Contains Sonadow and Knuxilver.
1. Newly Found

Blood splattered on the floor as a scream went unheard by anybody outside the confines of the prison-like military base. The owner of the scream, a black hedgehog with red stripes and red eyes, was chained to a wall with a whip hitting his back. Ink of some sort was splattered on his fur to hide the red stripes and yellow contacts to hide the color of his eyes. If anybody saw who this hedgehog really was, then there will likely be a rebuttal. Another scream echoed through the room as the hedgehog was hit again.

He whimpered as the human touched his wounds. The human, who had a uniform that belonged to the military base G.U.N., smirked and walked away, shutting the cell door but, as the hedgehog noticed, didn't lock it. The dark one's ears perked up. Is this his chance to escape? Will he finally get the freedom he's been begging for?

Eagerly, the beaten up hedgehog made his way towards the cell door. He tried to ignore the pain coursing through him. Small whimpers escaped his mouth, but he inched forward. Soon, he made it to the door and gently pushed it open.

He quietly looked around for cameras and guards. Very carefully, he snuck towards the exit. As he opened the door to his freedom, the alarms went off.

"The project is getting away!" A voice repeated over and over while a very loud sound echoed through the halls. G.U.N. troops swarmed the halls, looking for the one that had escaped.

The dark creature had already ran out of the only place he's ever known. It was dark outside, so it made it harder to see him, and for him to see. He kept running. Everything moved in a blur as he kept running through something that was filled with these tall brown things with green on the top that covered most of the sky. Soon, the strange shoes that he always wore had fire jetting out, making him go faster. He screamed, not knowing that they were suppose to do that, and he looked down at his shoes. That's when he hit one of those brown things and fell into unconsciousness.

The next day, a speedy blue hedgehog was running through the forest, like every morning, with his best fox friend. Everybody knew these two: Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails the Fox. Anyways, Sonic was running, and Tails was following him, using his two tails to fly.

"Ah, nothing like the wind hitting your face on an early Saturday morning, eh Tails?" Sonic looked back at his little 'brother' as Sonic calls him. The young kitsune smiled and nodded. Sonic smiled back, but soon tripped over something, making him go face forward to the ground.

"Ow..." Sonic mumbles as he slowly stood back up. "What did I trip over?"

Tails and Sonic looked at a hedgehog laying unconscious on the ground. He was completely black with blood splatters all over him. His 6 quills had 4 upturned ones and 2 turned down. He had strange white and red shoes with jets on the bottom. Three bracelet like rings also were on him: one on his wrist and two on his ankles. In a way, the hedgehog looked very familiar to the two.

Sonic looked at all of the blood on the unconscious hedgehog and frowned. "We should help him."

He lifted up the hedgehog into his arms and started running to his and Tails' house in the outskirts of Station Square.

Tails followed behind, a little curious to whom this was and why he looked so... familiar. The rings seemed to look like someone's he met a couple years ago, but that person died...

When they got to their house, Sonic set the black hedgehog on his bed. He debated on waking him up, but he decided against it. The other would probably wake soon and it looked like he needed some rest. Sonic just pulled up a chair and looked at the hedgehog, wondering why he looks so familiar.

After a while, the hedgehog woke up, eyes glistening, almost as if they were fake. The golden eyes looked at Sonic, confusion in his eyes along with something else. Fear.

The blue hero smiled. "Hello there. How are you feeling?"

The hedgehog only whimpered and tried to move, but he winced in pain from his back. Sonic frowned as he saw the many whip marks, still bleeding.

"What happened...?" Sonic asked, but he never got an answer. He frowned and called for Tails. "Tails! Could you get the first aid kit and help our guest!?"

Soon, the two-tailed Fox was in the room. The Hedgehog's eyes were wide when he saw the two tails. Sonic chuckled lightly; it's not every day you see a fox like Tails.

Tails just smiled at their guest and walked to where Sonic was standing. "What's wrong?"

Sonic pointed to the dark one's back, which had lots of blood and big marks. Tails' eyes were wide. "Poor guy."

"Yeah... I wonder what happened to him." Sonic sighed. "But he hasn't said a word to me."

Tails frowned as he started to pat the hedgehog's wounds with a wet rag. He whimpered in response and tried to crawl away.

"We're not going to hurt you. Just cleaning the wounds is all." Sonic said, looking into the hedgehog's fear-stricken eyes. The hedgehog calmed some, seeing the blue hero's calm look. Sonic smiled and gently petted the hedgehog's quills, causing the other to purr. "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. What's your name?"

The hedgehog opened his mouth, but no words came out. He coughed and tried again but to no avail.

Tails frowned a little at seeing the stranger attempt to speak. He grabbed a small flashlight and said, "Open your mouth, please."

The hedgehog complied, and Tails started looking inside his mouth. "His throught is extremely red... Seeing these marks, I bet he's been screaming a lot... His voice will come back though, in a couple of days, if he gives it time to heal."

Sonic nodded and the hedgehog frowned. Tails wrapped gauze around his wounds, which made his chest, stomach, and back in the think bandages. The two noticed that on his chest was a puff of white fur, stained with blood. Again, the two were struck with the familiar looks. In truth, the two thought that he looked a lot like an old rival who died saving the world with Sonic. His name was Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow had the same shoes, chest fur, quills arrangement, and rings, but Shadow had red eyes that burned with determination and stripes on his quills , arms, and legs to match. This hedgehog was all black with golden eyes that had fear eched into them.

"You should get some rest. It'll help you heal faster." Tails said and the hedgehog nodded. Sonic helped him lay back down, and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

Sonic smiled softly and started to walk out of the room, Tails following. "Let's let him rest..."


	2. Inhibitor Rings and Amy Rose

The two 'brothers' took care of the hedgehog, and he started to heal. His throught looked a lot better, so they decided to try talking again.

"So, try telling us your name." Sonic said as he leaned back against the maroon colored couch. Tails was beside him, and their guest was sitting on a dark, leather chair.

The hedgehog took a deep breath and said in a small, scratchy, deep voice. "I-I don't really have a name... They always called me P-Project..."

"They? Who's 'they'?" Tails asked.

"S-Some military group... I forget the name..."

Suddenly, the TV spoke up. "The search for the missing, disastrous project that has escaped 2 days ago from G.U.N. is still going on. Here is the commander with a description."

As soon as the commander came on with a picture of Project, he jumped behind the couch and yelled, "Get him away from me!"

Sonic and Tails looked back at Project, who was cowering. He was in the fatal position, crying.

"Is that the group that hurt you?" Tails asked. Project nodded.

"They said that you were dangerous... How come?" Sonic frowned.

"I-I don't know! Th-They said that I deserved all of those beatings, but I don't know what they're talking about!" Project sobbed.

Sonic jumped behind the couch and held Project closely, trying to comfort him. "Don't worry, we'll make sure they don't ever hurt you again. I promise."

Project smiled softly. "Th-Thank you so much, Sonic."

"Hey, it's no problem, buddy." Sonic smiled.

Project looked at Sonic and smiled. Then, a glint of something gold and shiney caught his eye. It looked just like the rings that he had on.

"I-Is that mine?" He asked as he looked at his wrist.

Sonic looked at him, confused until he saw what Project was talking about. "Oh, that? Sorry, but that's an old friend's inhibitor ring... He died..."

"Oh, I'm sorry... Who was he?" Project asked.

"His name was Shadow. He actually looked a lot like you, just, he had red eyes and matching stripes." Sonic smiled as he talked about Shadow. "He was created about 50 years ago in a space colony called ARK. His best friend died while saving him, and he slept for 50 years until Eggman woke him up."

Project looked at Tails, who was giggling. Tails looked at Project, who looked really confused, and said, "Sonic likes Shadow a lot more than a friend."

"No I don't!" Sonic quickly protested, a blush on his face.

"Sonic likes Shadow! Sonic likes Shadow!" Tails teased.

Sonic's blush darkened. "Shut up, Tails."

The young fox chuckled. "You know that you do!"

"Maybe I do, but it's no use now. Shadow's gone. If he did survive that fall, then he would've been here. We've checked everywhere... he's nowhere to be found..." With that, Sonic walked upstairs, a rare frowned on his face.

Project looked over at Tails. "I-Is he okay...?"

Tails nodded, a small frown on his face. "Yeah... He just needs some space. He really misses Shadow..."

Tails walked downstairs to his workshop, leaving Project alone in the room. He sat on the couch, barely moving. He didn't know what anything in here was, so he wouldn't try doing anything until Sonic or Tails came back.

He sat there, waiting. The only sound was the TV, which was on a very low volume. You could here sobbing from upstairs and metal hitting metal downstairs. Then, a knock was heard with a girl's voice calling, "SONIKKU! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE! WE HAD A DATE SCHEDULED 30 MINUTES AGO!"

Project's ears went down at the louder noise as he walked towards the door and opened it with a small, "Hello?"

The girl who was yelling was a pink hedgehog with jade colored eyes. She had on a short, hot pink dress with matching boots. Yellow bracelets hung on her wrists, and a pink hairband rested on her head. Her bubblegum pink hair reached to a couple centimetres before her shoulders, and in her hands was a large pink and yellow hammer. Project backed away scared; the girl let herself in.

"SONIKKU!" she shouted.

A blue figure appeared at the top of the stairs, emerald orbs were wide. "Amy!?"

The pink hedgehog ran towards Sonic and hugged him tightly. "Sonic, it's time for our date!"

"Date!?" Sonic looked at her. "Since when did we have a date?"

"Oh, Sonic, silly, don't you remember? It was after your last defeat of Eggman."

"Uh..." Project looked at them, confusion clear on his face.

"Sonic," the pink hedgehog asked, now noticing Project. "Who's this?"

"I-I'm Project..." He stuttered out.

"Sonic! Is that the dangerous thing that G.U.N. wants!? Why is it here!? It could hurt you!"

Project's ears went down as his eyes brimmed with tears. Sonic noticed that and ran to him, wrapping Project in a reassuring hug. "Come on, don't cry, Project. I know you'd never hurt anyone. It's okay..."

The pink one frowned. "I am SO sorry! I never ment to make you cry!"

Project looked at her. "I-It's okay... I'm use to it..."

"Oh, you poor thing!" She ran up and hugged Project. "I'm Amy Rose, and if you ever need any help, I'll be there."

Project smiled, but couldn't suppress the nagging feeling that he has been hugged by this same girl before.

Amy smiled back. "I don't see how G.U.N. could say that you are as dangerous as the ultimate lifeform was. You're too sweet."

"Th-Thanks... I don't know why they want me, but I've been in their prisons for as long as I can remember. Everyday, they'd come up with a new form of torture for me to endure..." Project said, causing both Sonic and Amy to frown.

"Don't worry, we will never let G.U.N. take you away again." Sonic said with a warm, reassuring smile. Amy nodded in agreement.

"Thank you... Thank you so much!" Project beamed.

"It's nothing." Amy smiled. "Well, Sonic and I were going to go on a date, but maybe you could join us."

"I don't mean to intrude on this date that you speak of-" Project started.

"No, no! You're not intruding on anything!" Sonic smiled almost nervously. "It'd give you a great chance to see the world, since you've been trapped in a cell for years."

"B-But what if they find me...?" Project asked.

"I'll protect you." Sonic smiled.

Project smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'll go."

"Well, we should go somewhere more secluded so nobody tries to take Project... How about the forest?" Amy suggested.

"Great idea Amy." Sonic smiled at her, and Project could literally see the pink hedgehog's eyes turn into hearts. How is that even possible!?

Sonic looked like it was normal for her to do that, so he guessed that it happens often.

"Let's go!" Sonic said, leading the two outside where those brown and green things were.


	3. The Outside

The three walked outside, and a bright light was the first thing that Project saw. He closed his eyes.

"It's so bright..." he murmured.

"I just love the sunshine, don't you, Project?" Sonic asked.

"Sun-shine?" Project said the syllables apart, trying to figure out what he meant. "What's that?"

"You don't know what sunshine is?" Amy asked.

Project shook his head. "I don't know what any of this is... What is this green stuff beneath my feet? What is the beautiful blue above?"

"Aw, you poor thing!" Amy frowned.

"Don't worry. We'll teach you what everything is." Sonic smiled reassuringly. "The 'green stuff' is called grass, and the blue above us is the sky. Sunshine is the warmth and brightness that comes from the sun, which is up there." He pointed up to a glowing orangish-yellow ball in the sky.

"And what are these?" Project asked, curiously pointing to the things he ran into before.

"Those are trees. They give us oxygen, so we can breathe." Amy explained.

"But... In my cell, we had no trees and air was limited. Whenever I couldn't breathe, they held a green emerald in front of me, and I could breathe better." Project said.

"You mean a chaos emerald!?" Both Amy and Sonic said at the same time.

"Uh... Yeah..." Project said. "That's what those people called it."

Sonic looked like a fish out of water.

"I prefer this 'oxygen' more though. It definitely feels cleaner and makes me feel healthier."

"G.U.N. really treated you horribly, didn't they?" Amy asked, frowning.

Project nodded. "They beat me, rarely fed me, and only allowed me to breathe with the emerald after a beating. I was never allowed to move, even if I could, and if I ever talked, they'd choke me and give me no breathing time afterwards..."

Sonic frowned. "Well, don't worry, that'll never happen again. You're free now. Maybe you could run a bit, to get your legs moving."

Project beamed when he said that. "Really!?"

Sonic nodded. "Let's see how fast you are. Run to that tree and back."

Project nodded and got into a running position. He mentally counted down from three. 'Three... Two... One... Go!' and he ran off as fast as he could. Soon, the fire shot out of his shoes again, but this time he was ready for it as he changed his posture into a skating look. He sped faster and faster, almost as it it was a second nature for him. In an instant, he was at the tree and back.

Sonic was wide eyed and smiling. "You run just like Shadow use to! And just as fast!"

"I didn't know I could run that fast..." Project smiled.

"That was really cool!" Amy smiled. Then, she held up a picnic basket. "We can sit in a clear area and eat some. I'm sure I have enough for the three of us. I made chili dogs..."

"Chili dogs!?" Sonic smiled like a little boy in a candy store. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Sonic grabbed the two's arms and ran off in a fast run. Soon, they were in a small clearing, but Project saw blood stained grass near a tree. "I-Is that... my blood?"

Sonic frowned. "Yeah... This is where Tails and I found you."

"That's a lot of blood..." Amy commented.

"Let's just eat..." Project said, desperately trying to forget how all of that blood got out of him.

"Yeah, good idea." Sonic nodded.

Amy spread out a small, checkered sheet, and the three sat down on it. Amy took out a bag full of these 'chili dogs,' that Sonic seemed to love, along with some cups and a pitcher of yellow stuff that Amy called 'lemonade.'

"Do you like them, Sonikku? I know they're your favorite." Amy asked, leaning closer to him. Sonic only replied with a thumbs up and leaning away from her, still gulping down the food. Amy's face seemed to have brighten as her smile widened. She leaned closer to him.

"Are you two- what's the word?- a couple?" Project asked, observing the two.

"No!" Sonic said, but at the same time, Amy replied, "Yes!"

Project looked at them both, confused completely. "Huh?"

"We are not together. She just thinks we are." Sonic said.

"You are mine, Sonic!" Amy declared. "You always have been!"

Just then, they heard a noise. Project's ears went down, fearing the worst. Then, a familiar voice was heard, "Sonic!"

"Soon, Tails appeared, looking really worried and tired out. "Sonic! The G.U.N. commander wants to see you, now!"

Sonic's eyes widened, but he stayed calm. "Okay, I'll go see what's up. Tails, please take Project to Angel Island. It's safer for him there. I'll meet you up there when it's safe. Tell Knuckle-head what's going on. Amy, you go home."

"But-" Amy began to protest, but Sonic beat her to it.

"No Amy, it's safer for you to go home. It's too risky to keep you here."

Amy sighed and nodded as she ran off, most likely to her house.

Tails nodded. "I'll sneak Project to the back, where the Tornado 1 is."

Sonic smiled. Thanks little buddy." Then he turned to Project. "Follow Tails, he'll get you to a safe spot."

Project nodded, ears down in worry. Sonic smiled and said, "Don't worry. I promised that I would keep you safe, and I intend to keep it." Then, he ran off.

"This way, Project." Tails said as he started walking. "Be quiet so he doesn't hear you." Project nodded and followed the young kitsune.

They slowly made their way to the back of the house; Project gasped at the bi-plane that sat in front of them.

"Hop in." Tails whispered, getting into the driver's seat. Project nodded and got into the back, buckling up.

"Here we go." Tails said as the plane took off without a sound.

"Project liked looking at the view from above, but the thing that really caught his eye was the floating island right above the city.

And that was where Tails was flying to...


	4. Angel Island and A Trapped Echidna

"Woah..." Project stared at the beautiful scenery of the floating island with awe.

"Welcome to Angel Island, Project." Tails said as he landed the plane.

"It's so... beautiful..." Project commented.

"I know. Follow me; I have a friend that I want you to meet." Tails smiled as he started walking, Project following him.

What they came up to as they walked, was a golden, worn down temple. The many steps still looked in tact, but they looked as if they were going to fall apart.

Project followed Tails up the steps.

"Knuckles!?" The young fox shouted as they made it to the top. Tails started to become worried when nobody answered back. He frantically ran around, searching for something. Project stood in awe at the big, green emerald in the center of the temple. It reminded him a lot of the emerald G.U.N. had, but this one was gigantic compared to that one. He slowly walked towards it, hand outstretched. Something in his mind told him to touch it, and he did just that.

As soon as he did, a white light invaded his vision, and he passed out.

{¤~¤~¤~¤}

Meanwhile, Sonic was preparing what he was going to say to the G.U.N. commander as he walked into his house. He knew this was going to happen, but all that was on his mind was protecting Project... He felt that Project was like Shadow, and now he was given the chance to save Project like he would have saved Shadow. He blamed himself for Shadow's demise...

"Sonic the Hedgehog," said the commander, getting his attention. "It took you a while to get here, and where's Miles?"

"I was in the middle of a picnic with Amy, and Tails had to get some groceries." Sonic didn't like lying, but something in him said that it was okay to lie to save Project.

"Very well then." The commander said. "I'm sure you have heard of our missing project?"

Sonic simply nodded. "Yes, I have."

"Have you, perhaps, seen it anywhere?"

"No."

"This project of ours is very dangerous, world-threatening even. Now, being the hero you are, I hope you are searching for it, so it doesn't destroy the world."

"Of course I am." Sonic lied. "But, what kind of powers does this project have?"

"They are unknown." The commander stated. "We intended to keep it controlled, but somehow it escaped."

"Oh..." Sonic held back his disappointment. He really wanted to find out more about Project. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. As soon as you find it, call us. We know how to take care of it."

"Will do." Sonic said with his signature thumbs up.

The commander nodded and walked out of the house. Sonic sighed as he collapsed on his couch. Lying is a tough thing to do...

He got back up and quickly grabbed his red chaos emerald, saying the words "Chaos Control!"

And with that, he disappeared to Angel Island.

{¤~¤~¤~¤}

A bright light. That's what Project first saw. Then, there was a girl. A peach colored echidna with green and yellow hair items in her dread-like hair. She had a white and green dress on that made her look like an ancient ruler of some kind. She had a gentle smile on her face.

"Who are you?" Project asked her.

"I am Tikal. I have brought you here because I have to talk to you."

"Where are we?"

"Inside the Master Emerald."

"Wh-What do you want to talk to me about?"

"The future."

Project's eyes were wide. "I have a... future?"

Tikal nodded and smiled gently. "Please be careful, Project. There are many challenges waiting for you out there. Some are physical, yet others are emotional. Keep a level-headed mind and stay focused. Your task it to find your real self. You had a life before G.U.N. took you, you just don't remember it. A fall gave you amnesia. I can't say anymore than that about your past."

Project's eyes were wide, and his ears were alert. He couldn't believe that he had a life before he could remember. "I'll be more careful, I promise."

She smiled. "You should leave now; someone is calling for you."

And, sure enough, Project heard a voice. "Project! Come on, wake up!"

"Sonic..." Project murmured.

"One more thing before you go." Tikal said. "Don't let history repeat itself."

Project nodded, not really knowing what she ment.

"Goodbye." She smiled. "And good luck."

A bright light invaded Project's vision, and he passed out again.

{¤~¤~¤~¤}

"Project!" Sonic shouted, shaking the unconscious hedgehog.

"Sonic?" Project mumbled, his eyes opening to see a worried blue hedgehog.

"You scared me there for a second!" Sonic exclaimed, hugging Project tightly.

"S-Sorry Sonic..." Project said, a warm feeling swarming in his chest from the sudden hug.

"It's okay." Sonic smiled.

"Sonic, I've searched the whole island, but Knuckles is nowhere to be found." Tails ran up to the two.

"It's not like him to leave his precious emerald like this..." Sonic said.

"Something horrible must've happened!" Tails said. "But... why would someone take just Knuckles, and not the emerald?"

"Maybe he had a secret admirer that went too far." Sonic joked.

"Sonic, now is not the time to be joking." Tails stated blankly.

"I know, I know." Sonic said.

"Your friend is missing?" Project asked, and the two nodded. "Who would take him?"

"Well, there's always Eggman." Tails said, and Sonic nodded. "We should also check Rouge's house, just incase."

"Sounds like a plan." Sonic said with his thumb up. "Let's check Rouge's house first."

"I'll take my plane back to the house and meet you there. You can just chaos control." Tails waved as he walked back to his plane.

"See you later, Tails!" Sonic called out. "And be careful!"

"I will!" Came the young fox's echoed reply.

Sonic smiled and took Project's hand. "Do you trust me?"

Not knowing why he asked, Project nodded.

"Okay. Chaos Control!" Sonic yelled, holding a ruby red emerald. They disappeared, and Project realized why he asked that.

For on the door of the house was a symbol that Project grew to hate.

"Th-This person works for G.U.N.!?"


	5. Bat Girl

"Calm down, Project." Sonic tried to comfort the frightened hedgehog before him.

"How can I be c-calm!? You're probably going to turn me in, aren't you!?" Project panicked. "I thought I could trust you!"

"I hope you still do because I'm not turning you in." Sonic said calmly. "Rouge may work for them, but she would never do something to hurt someone innocent."

"P-Promise?"

"I promise. I'd never hurt you, Project." Sonic smiled.

"O-Okay..." Project chose to believe him, but he was still on guard as they walked inside.

"Rouge?" Sonic asked, looking around.

"Sonic, hun, is that you?" A feminine voice asked. Soon, a white bat appeared. She had topaz eyes and was wearing a black spy suit with a pink heart on the chest of it. She held a jewel in her gloved hands, but her eyes were on them. "Who's your friend there?"

"This is Project." Sonic introduced.

"Oh, you're the one that G.U.N. was hurting?" Rouge walked over to Project. "Poor thing. I would've gotten you out of there if those jerks would let me see you. They said that they couldn't tell me anything about you either. Such a shame."

"Rouge," Sonic began as Project hid behind Sonic. "he's kind of shy, but we wanted to know if you've seen Knuckles anywhere. He's not on Angel Island."

"Knuckles is gone?" Rouge asked. "I haven't seen him since yesterday."

"It's strange... he must've been kidnapped." Sonic said. He then turned to Project. "She's not going to hurt you, I promise."

"But she's from G.U.N." he whimpered out.

"Not all people are the same. Rouge is really nice, and she would never hurt you." He replied. "Just stand tall and strong; you're never going back there."

Project nodded and straightened himself up. Rouge was struck with familiarity at the stance he took: crossed arms, a serious look, and legs shoulder feet apart. She remembered that stance well from an old partner of hers. Then again, his whole appearance reminded her of him. "Shadow?"

"I must really look like this Shadow guy that people keep talking about..." Project mumbled.

"Well, you do look a lot like him." Sonic said, a sweatdrop visible on his forehead.

"You do." Rouge agreed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually were him. There are differences between you two though. Shadow has red eyes and red stripes."

"Well, I actually do have different colored eyes... They put these clear things in for some reason. I don't have stripes though..." Project said quietly.

"They put contacts in your eyes? I wonder why'd they do that..." Rouge said. "Here, let me help you get those out."

Rouge walked over to Project, who was a little scared but let her. She gently took out each contact, careful not to hurt him. Project stayed perfectly still, knowing that a simple blink could cause a lot of pain. Soon, the contacts were out, revealing dazzling, ruby red eyes.

"Woah," Sonic was amazed. "Those definitely look like Shadow's eyes..."

"You could be a Shadow look a like, just... without the stripes." Rouge commented.

Project stared at the two, whom were staring at him with wide eyes. "I guess... I've never seen this Shadow before, but the way everybody mistakes me for him must mean something."

"Agent Rouge!" A voice barked from a small bracelet like communicator on Rouge's wrist.

"Yes, commander?" Rouge held up the communicator to look at the small screen while Project hid behind Sonic.

"You had a mission briefing that started 5 minutes ago! Get over here now!" The commander yelled.

"Rouge smirked and said, " On my way." She then hung up and turned to the other two in the room. "See you later boys, and good luck finding Knuckles."

Sonic smiled and walked out of the house, Project following. "Later Rouge!"

"Goodbye!" Project called shyly as they left Rouge's house. He then looked to Sonic. "Where are we going now?"

"To bust an egg."


	6. To Bust an Egg

Project was confused at the blue one's words. To bust an egg? What does that mean?

"Follow me." Sonic said as he ran off.

"Wait for me!" Project yelled as he started running, his rocket shoes kicking on as he slowly caught up with the blue blur.

Sonic just kept running, loving the feeling of the wind rushing through his quills and his feet hitting the hard ground. He smiled as he saw Project beside him, racing just like Shadow would: eyes faced forward in determination, leaned forward to gain more momentum, and arms gracefully moving back and forth to the rhythm of the skates. He felt like he was finally racing Shadow again, though he knew this was just Project.

Project smiled, never feeling a better feeling than this. Wind was the only thing he felt as he stood up. He looked over at Sonic with a new found competitive spirit, ready for a race. Sonic just smirked in response to his silent request and sped off quickly. Project ran faster, now gaining the lead. Sonic caught up and the two were like that for the whole trip.

"I win." Sonic shouted triumphantly when reached their destination.

"Sure you did." Project said sarcastically.

"I did!" Sonic argued. Project smiled at the childish hedgehog. He felt more comfortable around Sonic and his friends, now that he knows he can trust the blue blur. Something with that race triggered something within him. It showed a new found need to race the blue hedgehog and argue a bit. It felt almost... familiar, in a way.

Sonic was thinking the same thing. The race and the arguing over who won felt familiar to him.

'Shadow...' A voice in his head said.

Ever since Shadow died, Sonic had a horrible ache in his heart. Somehow, he always thought that Shadow was still alive. He kept searching around the world, looking for his crush, but he never found anything. Shadow's body was never found after he fell to Earth. Tails said that the fire, that was probably there as he reentered Earth's atmosphere, caused his body to disintegrate. Sonic didn't believe him, though he acted like he did. Shadow was created to withstand a lot, being the ultimate lifeform and all, so how could he die from that? What exactly was going on? A few years after Shadow's death, a look a like of him appears out of nowhere and doesn't remember much. There's something strange going on here, and Sonic is going to figure it out. Maybe after they find Knuckles. At the moment, he was worried for his hot headed friend.

Sonic started walking into his arch rival's base. Project followed warily- the huge, metal building giving him a clear sign of danger.

"Sonic?" He asked, looking at his friend.

"What?" Sonic stopped and looked at Project's slightly frightened eyes.

"This place looks dangerous..." Project said, his ears flattening to his skull.

"Don't worry." Sonic smiled reassuringly. "I'll protect you. I do this almost everyday."

As Sonic ran in, different lasers, guns, and robots shot at him. Project just stood there, questioning the other's sanity. Sonic dodged all of the gunshots and spin dashed through a line of robots. Then, he jumped on one of the guns and jumped when another one shot at him, destroying the on he was on. He continued to do that until one was left, in which he used his homing attack to get that one. Then, he finished off the rest of the robots.

When he was finished, he turned to Project and said, "What are you waiting for? Come on!"

Project walked through the mess, looking at everything. He looked in amazement at the destroyed machines that were just standing tall a second ago. Project guessed that Sonic liked to have his ego grow because he grinned triumphantly when Project looked at him with shock and amazement.

The two walked into another room where a man sat in front of a huge computer. The man was tall, bald, and fat. His body was shaped almost like an egg, and he had a long orange, bushy mustache under a long, pink nose. Small, blue glasses covered his eyes.

"Ah, Sonic, what an unpleasant surprise." The man spoke with a grin.

"You know very well why I'm here, Eggman!" Sonic shouted, running up to him. Project quickly followed behind him.

"And who is your friend?" The man, that Sonic called Eggman, stared Project down before a strange glint was seen on his glasses. "No, it can't be... Shadow died years ago..."

"Why does everybody think I'm Shadow!?" Project sighed, causing Sonic to chuckle. Then, he shouted at Eggman, "They call me Project, so I suppose that is my name. I am not Shadow!"

"Either way, I'll have fun destroying you both!" Eggman shouted, pressing a big, red button.

Sonic stood readily as robots surrounded the two. Project looked around nervously. He didn't know how to fight, only flee. Sonic glanced at him, noticing his worried look, and he gently grabbed Project's hand and gave him a reassuring nod. As the robots started to shoot, Sonic and Project jumped over them. When they landed, Sonic Lego projects hand and spin dashed into one robot. Project studied how Sonic did that, and he wondered if he could try that attack instead of just standing there. He warily started running towards the robot and curled into a ball, his quills sharpening to a deadly point. He spun faster and faster until he cut through a robot and landed safely, the robot exploding behind him.

"Way to go, Project!" Sonic cheer before destroying more robots.

"I did it..." Project let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He smiled and helped Sonic finish off the rest.

Eggman was staring at Project intently. He really didn't believe that this was a completely different hedgehog. A blood test would prove that. The question is, how could he get the blood?

Project looked over at Sonic when they finished. Sonic smiled back and gave him the thumbs up that was the Blue Blur's signature. Eggman smirked as he pressed another button.

Project gasped as he felt metallic arms hold him tightly. Then, a robot with a medic look approached him with a syringe.

"Project!" Sonic shouted. He was about to run over there, but another robot grabbed him before he could. He struggled in the robot's grip and shouted Project's name again.

"Oh, don't bother, Sonic. I'm not going to hurt him... much." Eggman said before breaking into his hysterical / evil Santa laugh. "Oh ho ho ho!"

The syringe was stuck into the side of Project's arm. He whimpered, but stayed still. The medic bot soon took the syringe, now filled with Project's blood coming out. The blood soon went from red to green.

"Chaos energy..." Eggman mumbled. "Just like Shadow..."

"Let Project go, Eggman!" Sonic shouted, almost desperately. He didn't want Project to be hurt again.

"Bring the blood sample to me, Medibot." Eggman commanded. "And you two take our prisoners to the chambers."

Project and Sonic quickly tried to escape, but failed. Soon, the robot holding Project let go of them. "What...?"

Standing on top of the robot was a red echidna with gleaming purple eyes. His gloves has spikes on the knuckles, and his quills were arranged like dreadlocks.

"Knuckles!" Sonic shouted happily.

Knuckles chuckled and punched through the robot holding Sonic, his sharp knuckles penetrating the metal. Sonic looked over to where Eggman was, but he was gone.

"Thanks, Knuckles." Sonic smiled before looking at Project, who was holding his arm where the syringe was. "Are you okay, Project?"

"I'm fine... My arm hurts a little though..." Project replied. "But, I'm use to it."

"We should go back to Tails and get that taken care of."

The other two nodded, and they walked back to Tails' workshop.

While they were walking, Knuckles decided to strike up a conversation. "So, you're Project?"

"Yeah," Project replied. "And you're Knuckles?"

"The one and only." Knuckles smiled.

Sonic was walking ahead of the other two. He was wondering why Eggman took Project's blood. Was it some kind of evil plot? Project is supposed to be dangerous...

"Sonic?" Sonic looked over to see Project staring at him.

"What is it, buddy?"

"I... just wanted to say thank you for helping me." Project looked down shyly. "If you hadn't took me in, I probably wouldn't have made it far..."

Sonic smiled. "Hey, it was nothing. Nobody deserves to be treated like you did."

Project smiled and kept walking until they made it back to Tails' workshop.

Sonic put disinfectant on the wound and then put a bandage on it. Knuckles was telling everyone about what happened.

"How could you have been knocked you out that easily?" Tails wondered. "And why didn't he take the Master Emerald?"

"Maybe he's working on something else, but needed Knuckles out of the way." Sonic suggested. "Maybe he's working with someone else to make sure his plan succeeds."

"But who would he work with?" Tails asked.

"I remember a shadow appearing before I was knocked out..." Knuckles said. "But I don't know exactly what it looked like..."

"This day just keeps getting weirder and stranger." Sonic commented as he sat down on the couch.

Suddenly, a white hedgehog appeared in a flash of light. Five quills were sticking up on his head and two were on the back of his head. He wore a strange black outfit with glowing blue lines throughout it. On his head was a matching black and glowing blue headset. He had determined sunset colored eyes.

"Speaking of weirder and stranger..." Knuckles mumbled as the other three stared in surprise at the newcomer.

The hedgehog scanned his surroundings before pressing the side of his headset. "I have made it to the time era of 2004. Proceeding to find the missing gem." he paused for a second before saying, "Commander? Oh come on stupid technology, don't quit on me now!"

"Uh, excuse me," Sonic said, drawing the attention of the intruder. "but you're standing in front of the TV."

The white stranger looked around again, but this time he noticed the four very confused faces in the room. He stopped and stared at Knuckles. His stare turned into an icy glare. "You."


	7. Silver the Futuristic Hedgehog

"Me?" Knuckles looked at the somewhat angered hedgehog.

The question does seem to make the hedgehog even more mad. "Yeah you! How could you have come to the past?"

"What are you talking about?" Knuckles backed away as the seemingly younger hedgehog advanced towards him.

"Woah! Woah! Hey!" Sonic shouted as he stepped in between them, looking at the silver intruder with a little more panic, but he didn't show it. "I don't know who you are or why you're in my house, but Knuckles didn't do anything to you, so leave him alone."

"I can handle my own battles, Sonic..." Knuckles mumbled, but otherwise kept quiet about the blue hedgehog stepping in. The silver one, however, was fuming, yet a curious glint was in his eyes. His eyes searched through the frightened Project, curious Tails, brave Sonic, and confused Knuckles. The hedgehog started to calm down.

"Right. This must be him from the past..." The white hedgehog nodded to himself before addressing the small group. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I am Silver the Hedgehog, and I am from the future, approximately 30 years from this very day."

"Future?" Project asked warily "You can time travel?"

"When this stupid headset works, yes." The one called Silver nodded.

"If you want, maybe I could fix it." Tails offered, choosing to forget about what just happened.

"Eh, sorry kid, but I'm not sure you'd be able to fix it." Silver said.

"Tails is the smartest person I know, and he loves to build and fix stuff." Sonic said. "I'm sure you can fix it."

Silver looked at the young fox for a second, but then sighed and handed him the headset. "Okay... But don't break them more than they already are."

"No problem." Tails smiled. "I'll just take a look at them and see what the problem is." Then he walked downstairs to his workshop.

"Don't worry." Sonic smiled. "It's in good hands."

Silver nodded, and Sonic continued. "How about we introduce ourselves? I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog, and that genius fox was Tails. The other hedgehog is Project, and the echidna is Knuckles."

Project wave nervously, and Knuckles nodded his agreement. Silver stared at Sonic with huge surprise and curiosity as he stepped closer to the Blue furred one.

"You..." He said. "You're the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog? You're real?"

"Of course I'm real! You're only from 30 years in the future; I'm not that old." Sonic chuckled, but seeing Silver's serious yet amazed face, stop. "Wait... I-I died"

The silver one nodded. "Yes... very close to now actually."

"What!?" Project frowned, tears threatening to come. "B-But he can't die!"

"How? Did Eggman finally get to him?" Knuckles wondered, eyes wide.

Silver briefly glared at Knuckles before saying, "I cannot say how, why, or when. It goes against the rules of time travel."

Sonic was looking down, his eyes closed. He wonder what could have happened. What did he do to cause his death? Did he step the wrong way when dodging? Was he saving someone?

Did he want to die?

Confusion swarmed inside him, but he wouldn't let himself show in front of his friends. "Well, I guess I'll have to be more careful in the future."

He was really glad Tails was in his workshop.

"Right." Silver nodded. "I'll stay here until my headset is repaired. Then, I can look for the missing gemstone of my time. I hope that you have a place for me to sleep?"

"Yeah, it's called the couch." Sonic smiled. "Sorry, project as our spare room."

"I-I can sleep on the couch, if you want..." Project said nervously. "I mean, I don't have a place of my own, nor have I had guests before, but I believe that guests should be treated well."

"That's nice of you, but I'll be fine on the couch." Silver smiled to the shy and nervous black hedgehog.

"Well that's settled, how about I show you around?" Sonic asked. Silver nodded, and Sonic looked at the other two. "Want to come along?"

"As long as we don't run into G.U.N., sure." Project replied.

"I have to go back to the Master Emerald, but you guys go on ahead." Knuckles said, walking out the door.

"Okay." Sonic smiled. "Let's go."

The three walked out, and Silver's eyes were wide.

"The past... looks so beautiful..."

The notorious Dr. Eggman sat in his base, waiting for the test results.

 _'How could Shadow have survived, anyway? He fell from space, to Earth...'_

Eggman pondered it a bit, until a deep, dark voice came from the shadows.

"Where is the prisoner?"

Eggman almost visibly shook at the one who interrupted. That voice, that came from no mouth, had haunted him ever since he first heard it.

"H-He got away." Eggman stuttered out with some hesitance.

Lizards like, forest green eyes appeared in the shadows, both set in a deep, icy glare.

"My leader will not be very happy with you..."

"I-I can get him back!"

"Hm..." The eyes disappeared. "Very well. You have two days to bring him back or else you're dead."

The three hedgehogs took a nice, relaxing walk through the forest. Silver looked at everything with pure amazement. Project looked at Silver, curiosity biting at him, but he was too shy to speak. Finally, he gained the confidence to ask him.

"Why are you so... amazed? Do they not have trees in the future?"

Silver looked at Project. "We have trees, but they are so spread out and so rare that I've hardly ever seen one." He looked around again at the nature that surrounded them. "The animals are in a live, the sky isn't blue, and there is no sun from what I could see... Only Darkness welcome the ones that survived."

"The future sounds awful..." Project said, ears going down.

"It is..." Silver sighed. "All because of one who was too powerful, one that tore the world in half, one that knew the legendary blue blur's weakness..."

Sonic had been absentmindedly listening to their conversation, but the instant silver talked about the one who takes over the world in the future, he was definitely paying attention. At the word weakness he shivered as one word came to mind. Water... He was deathly afraid of water, especially since he couldn't swim. But then he started to wonder. Everyone knew about his fear, besides Shadow, and he survived countless water traps with the help of his friends and a friendly, but not too friendly orca, so it would have been easy to get out.

Was it a different weakness?

He shook out of his thoughts as they came up to his house. He smiled as Project kept the conversation going between him and silver. He seemed to be getting out of his comfort zone, as he was talking to someone other than him and Tails. A small but strong feeling welled up at the thought of how much project was talking to Silver than him, but he just ignored it.

The sun was going down along with those strange feelings as Project sat beside him on the couch, as he watched TV, and fell asleep with his head on Sonic's shoulder.


End file.
